So we are six books into a nine book series and I was wondering what everyone's thoughts are now.

I've recently reread the entire series just to get a better look at it, and I must say, this series reads wonderfully back-to-back without the months in waiting in between. I've looked at some of my previous thoughts about the series and realized that my opinions have changed for the better. Going back and reading the whole thing, you can pick up hints here and there about events that happen later, and it really helps seal the series together making it seem all connected.

What are everyone else's thoughts? Good? Bad? Great? (keep in mind we all have little gripes here and there, but what is your overall opinion of the series, the authors, the plots, and the characters?)_________________
"I believe toys resonate with us as humans, we can hold them, it's tactile, real! They are totems for our extended beliefs and imaginations. A fetish for ideas that hold as much interest and passion as old religious relics for some. We display them in our homes. They show who we are. They are signals for similar thinking people. A way we connect with each other...and I guess thats why I do toys. That connection." -Ashley Wood

Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2010 12:03 pm

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Caedus_16Master

Joined: 15 Apr 2008Posts: 5438Location: Korriban

I like it so far, but its just well done. The story itself is all to clean up after the travesty that was LotF and that in and of itself hurts this series. HOpefully the payoff is good because that's what I could handle from this._________________Perfection is a lifelong pursuit requiring sacrifice. The only way to get it quicker is to sacrifice the most.

I'm enjoying the series more and more each book! I think the ramifications of this series will be bigger then any since NJO._________________-Bring on your thousands, one at a time or all in a rush. I don't give a damn. None shall pass.
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-To become a Jedi, it is not the Force one must learn to control but oneself.
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-Podcasts: Star Wars Beyond the Films, The Star Wars Report, & EUCast

Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2010 5:28 pm

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comanderblyMaster

Joined: 29 Feb 2008Posts: 745Location: Denver

I have to agree the series has only gotten better with each book. I really think the authors work well together, some books are stronger than others but they all fit together well. Especially compared to LotF

Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2010 6:17 pm

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kurtdcMaster

Joined: 15 May 2008Posts: 602Location: boston

Overall I am liking the series. I still have to get over the premise that the Daala could promulgate such a negative opinion of the jedi to the general public. Yet how the series has progressed we see that this is not working out so well for her.

To me it also seems that they have gotten away fromt he major theme of finding out what went wrong with Jacen, but have still sprinkled in things here and there. I kind of like that, because I don't expect there to be one major enlightening moment that says "this is why jacen went bad". I think at the end of the series they will come to the conclusion that it was a combination of things(vong torture, years away, narcisistic viewpoint) that led to him going that way.

So overall I'm left curious with:

how will the abeloth stuff end

does vestara survive

where does luke end up

daala? I doubt she will be the boss by the end of the series.

Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2010 6:49 pm

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ReepicheepMaster

Joined: 05 Feb 2008Posts: 7925Location: Sailing into the unknown

Keeping in mind I have only read each book once, with months in between...

I actually liked LotF better. *prepares for tomatoes*

The series is good, but very hodgepodge. It starts building momentum and then slows right back down (e.g. Abyss, I thought, would kick things into high gear, but then went down a rabbit trail with Backlash). Sort of like Jaina/Jag...

Some plotlines I find interesting and others I don't. I find the Jedi/GA conflict endlessly interesting, but storylines like Kessel and Dorin I find uninteresting._________________
Where sky and water meet,
Where the waves grow sweet,
Doubt not, Reepicheep,
To find all you seek,
There is the utter east.

Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2010 7:11 pm

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Rouge77Master

Joined: 22 Mar 2008Posts: 599

Bad. It's really not going anywhere, when it comes to storylines or the big ideas it's supposed to touch, is it? After 6 novels these should be clear and I don't think they are.

I have to admit that my overall post-Invincible malaise plays a part forming my view of FotJ, so I'm not objective.

Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2010 9:17 pm

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VileZeroMaster

Joined: 21 Mar 2010Posts: 818Location: Washington DC

Pretty good.

Abyss and Vortex are definitely the high points, with the boring Backlash being the low point thus far for me. Golden is a weird author for me, because she's a competent writer... I just feel that she tends to technically pale in comparison with Denning and Allston. I thought the series had a strong start, but has sort of floundered a bit.

Abyss and Vortex are definitely the high points, with the boring Backlash being the low point thus far for me. Golden is a weird author for me, because she's a competent writer... I just feel that she tends to technically pale in comparison with Denning and Allston. I thought the series had a strong start, but has sort of floundered a bit.

But after Vortex, I have the highest of high hopes.

Overall, I think it's very good, although I'm going to have to agree on a few negative points from Kurt and Vile first. The main one being is that I don't know what the main story is, or rather where the main focus is, what's the most important bit that I should be thinking about. I've heard that Vortex clears this up somewhat(1 day to go but I still have to finish 300 pages of The Gladiator, gah!) and the second, with Vile, I'm still not sure about Golden. I think she's good, not great like Allston and Denning, but she at least has potential. Building on that, I think the last three books have potential, which I think will turn good, to be truly great books, and the negatives pale in comparison to what I think they'll be like.

Oh, and I quite liked Backlash. Okay, it may not have fit in completely with the series as far as driving the story forward, but it built a great Vestara/Jedi story foundation, and the events on Coruscant were well written, I think._________________I am a Star Wars fan. That doesn't mean that I hate or love Jar Jar. That doesn't mean I hate or love Lucas, or agree or disagree 100% with him. That doesn't mean I prefer the PT over the OT, or vice versa. That doesn't mean I hate the EU, or even love all of it (or even read all of it). These are not prerequisites. Being a man is not a prerequisite. Being a geek is not a prerequisite. The only prerequisite is that I love something about Star Wars. I am a Star Wars fan.

Posted: Fri Dec 24, 2010 8:46 am

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Darth SkuldrenModerator

Joined: 04 Feb 2008Posts: 6953Location: Missouri

Quote:

Overall I am liking the series. I still have to get over the premise that the Daala could promulgate such a negative opinion of the jedi to the general public.

-kurtdc

The first time I read the books, that was the sense I had, that the people didn't like the Jedi. However, after rereading them, it became more clear to me that there is only a portion of the populace that shares Daala's anit-Jedi viewpoint, and that many people just agree that Jedi shouldn't be above the law, while others are completely pro-Jedi.

The Jedi support becomes really evident once the Perre Needmo Newshour program is introduced, as it provides a counter to the sensationalism of Javis Tyrr. The whole news plot helps give a glimpse at how the public is perceiving the events that are occurring. By the time the Mando siege of the Jedi Temple happens, there is a strong backlash against Daala brewing, and it only furthers her extreme measures. Initially I liked the whole news subplot, but in retrospect, it was actually a very well thought out idea to broaden the scope of the story.

And as far as the "what went wrong with Jacen" theme, they have strayed away from that lately, but I think the whole Allana on the throne vision may very well tie that back in in the upcoming books. Plus Luke will have to give some kind of cursory summary of why he thinks Jacen fell like he did in order to end his exile, which should wrap the series up nicely._________________
"I believe toys resonate with us as humans, we can hold them, it's tactile, real! They are totems for our extended beliefs and imaginations. A fetish for ideas that hold as much interest and passion as old religious relics for some. We display them in our homes. They show who we are. They are signals for similar thinking people. A way we connect with each other...and I guess thats why I do toys. That connection." -Ashley Wood

Posted: Sat Dec 25, 2010 4:48 pm

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Caedus_16Master

Joined: 15 Apr 2008Posts: 5438Location: Korriban

I have reread all the books and I have a few extra things to say.

I am enjoying the story so far. It is handled well by each author and in reality the only complaints I have are format (the entire series being hardcover is unnecessary and the short length of Omen did not justify the money spent on it). I will, however, point out a few things I have noticed about the story that bother me despite how well it is going.

I noticed in my reread that in the Lake of Apparitions that this series is meant to apologize for the mistakes made by Del Rey over the years. Han and Leia are very father/motherly to Allana, and this makes up for the loss of their children in a way. Jaina and Jag are getting together which officially puts a cap on the love triangle between her and Jag and Zekk which was frankly quite annoying. The conversation with Anakin Solo in the lake was an acknowledgement that his death was poorly thought out and not something that anyone, including the writing staff, wanted. It felt like some sort of closure and after learning that Troy Denning had written an alternate ending to Invincible where flow-walking was used to return Anakin to life i have to admit that I was more sympathetic towards the powers that be. They didn't want him dead, Denning never wanted it, and I felt that his way of closing that story off permanently in Abyss was well done. Tahiri is another aspect of something that has been poorly handled in the past. She was built up and suffered so much in the NJO series that she should have been a great Jedi, but instead they let her fall to the dark side in LotF which I felt was kind of pointless and they hit the reset button on that at the end of that series as well. The handling of her trial and such in FotJ shows that they move with the mistakes they've made and are trying to do right by the fans now. Which brings me to my final point: Jacen. Jacen abused power, saw himself as the savior of the galaxy, and yada yada yada. Big deal. The entirety of LotF was handled poorly. We're still not sure what the galactic conflict was about but we know that it had something to do with the GA sucking in the galaxy's eyes despite their victory in the Vong war AND the Dark Nest Crisis. Now we have Jacen, who falls to the dark side. He spent the entirety of his life philosophizing and learning new and strange Force techniques. He had decided to be more of a 'grey' Jedi so that he could do what was necessary, but he knew not to give in to the dark side. His story so paralleled Vader's that it was unnecessary. So why do it? who knows what they were thinking, but they brought him into Abyss in part to make up for it and to try to develop a reason. They failed but it was nice to see them try so hard.

In short, this series seems like a big "we're sorry" for the things they did that didn't work out. I like it but the fact that they are doing this taints it for me. NJO was hard hitting and they screwed up with Anakin's death but I wound up liking Jacen so it was ok. They handled that well. He was even one of the few good parts of the DN storyline. But LotF was handled and executed so poorly that they actually felt this was necessary. I don't know, it just feels like they're crumbling somewhat here. Just my opinion though._________________Perfection is a lifelong pursuit requiring sacrifice. The only way to get it quicker is to sacrifice the most.

Posted: Sun Dec 26, 2010 9:06 am

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Darth SkuldrenModerator

Joined: 04 Feb 2008Posts: 6953Location: Missouri

This series has humanized Tahiri to the point that I like her as a character now, so as long as they don't kill her off, that's a pretty good pay off. I'd certainly enjoy reading other books with her as one of the main characters now.

I'm still on the fence with Ben though. He's bearable, but I certainly wouldn't choose him for future stories, even though that's an impossibility. Of course, I didn't really like Luke until he hooked up with Mara because I thought Mara brought out a little bit more of Luke's bad side, so maybe Vestara can do the same for Ben. I just can't get behind a goody goody character. _________________
"I believe toys resonate with us as humans, we can hold them, it's tactile, real! They are totems for our extended beliefs and imaginations. A fetish for ideas that hold as much interest and passion as old religious relics for some. We display them in our homes. They show who we are. They are signals for similar thinking people. A way we connect with each other...and I guess thats why I do toys. That connection." -Ashley Wood

Posted: Sun Dec 26, 2010 11:44 am

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VileZeroMaster

Joined: 21 Mar 2010Posts: 818Location: Washington DC

Darth Skuldren wrote:

This series has humanized Tahiri to the point that I like her as a character now, so as long as they don't kill her off, that's a pretty good pay off. I'd certainly enjoy reading other books with her as one of the main characters now.

I'm still on the fence with Ben though. He's bearable, but I certainly wouldn't choose him for future stories, even though that's an impossibility. Of course, I didn't really like Luke until he hooked up with Mara because I thought Mara brought out a little bit more of Luke's bad side, so maybe Vestara can do the same for Ben. I just can't get behind a goody goody character.

I agree with your assessment of Tahiri. I had gotten tired of her in LotF, and in her first appearances of FotJ, but now I've really come full circle back to loving her. Whether this was intentional or not, they'd do well to say it was!

As for Ben, I still love his character. He's just the perfect smartass teenager. Yeah, he gets a little groan-worthy when he talks about bringing Vestara to the light side and all... but I feel like his overconfidence in doing that will have a negative consequence for him before the series ends. Aside from that, though, I think he's a great character. I've really grown to enjoy him.

See am most curious about Jacen's fate; how they will discover his fall, if he fell (while on his 5 year sojourn) or what not. I am still hoping we learn that Jacen did the right thing up till the end in LotF. I'd like to see Jacen as a Sith who needed to become one and fall to secure a lasting peace- and by that I think all he did was traded Allana for Krayt- that his actions forced Krayt's One Sith into hiding for longer then Krayt had planned.

I've always seen Krayt as the man in the throne, he too was once Jedi, and he does end up on the throne in Legacy. We don't know the fate of Allana, but I'd say it's a safe bet she's been the Queen for a while come Legacy.

So I'd love to see Jacen be the first Sith whose ends truly did justify the means. (even though Luke and the Jedi might argue that he succeeded)

But I too have to agree the series seems to be a way of fixing past mistakes._________________-Bring on your thousands, one at a time or all in a rush. I don't give a damn. None shall pass.
-
-To become a Jedi, it is not the Force one must learn to control but oneself.
-
-Podcasts: Star Wars Beyond the Films, The Star Wars Report, & EUCast

As far as Tahiri, FotJ has redeemed her some in my eyes, but I'm still deeply disappointed by what LotF did to her. The end of the NJO did such an awesome job of handling her and her grief for Anakin, only for all of it to be destroyed when she turned to the dark side. It would be a gutsy thing for them to let her be executed and I'd rather they do it than destroy her character again later. But I'd also be very sad to see her go. She had such potential to be a really great character and they didn't take advantage of it.

As for Ben: love the kid, but I'm still not happy with the whole situation with Vestara. I'm seriously hoping she dies at the end of the series._________________All things die, Anakin Skywalker, even stars burn out.